As an avid visitor of art museums, I find that most visitors who come to art museums are adults-only groups or adults with older children. When researching this article, I found that much of the internet views art museums as less child-friendly. I find this surprising as someone who grew up visiting just as many art museums as other museums, zoos, aquariums, and historical houses. Female artists comprise about 13% of the artists featured in art museums. This article will explore how adults can make art museums more kid-friendly spaces to inspire and engage the young girls in their lives who may want to become artists in the future.
1. Have discussions with your child about the art featured in the museum
Unlike history museums, zoos, aquariums, and many other non-art museums, children are not interested in hearing about the history of the art movements and why the artist created the piece. They are more interested in the colors and images in the art piece. Instead of trying to read the label and then explain to your child what the label says, ask them questions and discuss what they see, what they like or do not like about the art piece, and how it makes them feel. These are all discussions that many adults have with one another when going through an art museum. Why not have the same discussions with your child?
These questions will help formulate a discussion that will keep your child engaged and could offer some interesting insights that you may not have seen when viewing the art piece yourself. I would also advise keeping up with the discussion after visiting the museum. Ask your child what painting they enjoyed the most and the least and why. These questions could be useful when figuring out what art museums your child would be most interested in visiting in the future.
2. Print out a booklet or sheet with some of the museum’s art pieces and turn it into a game!
This game is not something my parents did, but I have seen a few guardians do this with their children when visiting art museums. I think it’s a great way to keep your children engaged while visiting a museum they may not be the most interested in visiting. Creating a game like this is especially great for art museums the parents are more interested in than the children. Not every art museum will excite your child, even if they are interested in visiting them.
3. Give your child your phone and have them take photos of the art pieces they are most interested in.
Every time I visit a museum, I take about 20 photos of the art pieces I enjoy. Taking pictures of the objects showcased in an exhibit has become increasingly more popular over the years. If your child has not been super engaged in conversing with you about the art, this can be another way to keep them engaged but independently. After they take a photo of an art piece, you can also start the discussion with why they decided to take a picture of it and what in the art piece they find unique or special to them.
However, sometimes children do not want to or do not have the language to discuss why they enjoy a particular art piece. Allowing them to participate in this independent activity can keep them engaged and inspired by the art pieces they can discuss with you when they have the energy and/or the language to do so.
Too often, I see parents trying to force their children to view the art pieces they are most interested in and not having discussions or engaging their children in a way that best suits them. Children do not engage with museums in the same way that adults do, and this matters most for art museums that tend not to have interactivities that children can play with while in the exhibit.
Guardians need to put in a bit more effort when making art museums more child-friendly. I will be adding more articles to this series that feature what art museums are doing to make their exhibits more kid-friendly and inspire the next generation of female artists.
-Lindsay Guarnieri
Intern, Curatorial
Girl Museum